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Former captain Wasim Akram was omitted from Pakistan’s 26-man cricket training squad ahead of the Asian Test Championship, said Pakistan chairman of selectors Wasim Bari.Leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, a member of this year’s tour party to England, also was left out. Bari said selectors want to field younger players in the opening match of the championship against India starting Aug. 30 in Multan, Pakistan.”The first match is at home and we wanted to start a rebuilding process,” Bari said in an interview. “It’s no indication that Akram’s career is over – this squad is for a training camp not the Tests, but we are looking to the future.”Akram, 35, has played 102 Tests and is Test cricket’s fourth highest wicket-taker with 414 wickets. A left-arm fast bowler, he is currently playing for Lashings Cricket Club in England. Akram said he will fly to Pakistan tonight to ask about his future.”It’s disappointing but I will keep going as I just want to do my best for my country,” he said. “I badly want to pass Kapil Dev’s (wicket’s total of) 434 so I still want to carry on playing.”Mushtaq’s place in the squad goes to Danish Kaneria, who made his Test debut against England in November, Raja said.There was no recall for former captain Moin Khan, while fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, also playing for Lashings, was included for the camp running from Aug. 6-29.

A deep breath, a soft touch, a shrill sound: sometimes the most powerful things are the simplest, and that’s the strategy South Africa’s attack has stuck to in India. They have stuck to their natural strength of speed, which has proven successful in various circumstances.”The major thing about our quick bowlers is that all three bowl over 140,” Dale Steyn said. “When the guys are steaming in and bowling quickly at 145 plus, pace on the ball makes it really tough especially in these conditions. As soon as it gets to the 25th-30th over where the ball gets really soft and the wicket starts to crumble a bit, it’s really difficult to get the quicker bowlers away. Pace is the main weapon.”It’s no surprise then that South Africa’s quickest bowler, Morne Morkel, who regularly reaches speeds above 150, leads the wicket-takers’ charts. After his four-for in Rajkot, Morkel sits with seven scalps at 18.85 and has demonstrated how generating awkward bounce at pace can be successful, especially towards the end of an innings when batsmen are looking to go big.MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane all fell to the Morkel short ball as they sought to slog him over deep midwicket but only managed to find a fielder, which has been the other component of the bowler’s success. This series is the first one taking place in India under the new playing conditions, which allow for five fielders outside the circle, one more than previously. That has given teams the scope to station an extra man on the boundary and cover a wider area just behind square or straight down the ground.”With the extra man out, you can cover that midwicket area,” Steyn said. “In the World Cup, you couldn’t have that man out, so you had to bring either fine leg or third man up and guys were able to cut or paddle but now you are left with only one shot: you have to slog over midwicket and if there is a guy out there, its either six or it’s out.”The 2015 World Cup threatened to redefine the last 10 overs of innings as a free-for-all in batting terms, with teams regularly plundering in excess of 100 runs in that period. Now, according to Steyn, the balance has been restored and it is allowing teams to defend scores in those end exchanges, as South Africa have done twice in the series so far. “It makes a more even contest between bat and ball so teams cant just run away with it from the 40th to the 50th over. You really have to think and you have to play extraordinary shots,” Steyn said.But you also have to think and bowl extraordinarily because the yorker is not the only delivery teams are turning to at the end. “If you run in and bowl yorkers and you miss your length, especially to a guy like MS [Dhoni], he is going to hit you out of the park. There is no easier delivery to face than a half volley,” Steyn said. “On these wickets here, where it really slows down, you can use your bounce and slower cutter and hard length delivery.”The best exponent of that kind of variation has been Kagiso Rabada, South Africa’s 20-year-old tearaway who is proving a handful at the death. Rabada has taken to responsibility with ease and is challenging Steyn as the man to watch in the South African attack, which Steyn does not seem to mind at all.”I think he is great, he has got a great attitude and he has everything that a fast bowler needs. He has got pace, he has got a good build, he is tall, quite an intimidating kind of guy and he asks a lot of questions in the nets. He is asking the right questions and he’ll just improve all the time,” Steyn said. “Every time he takes the ball, it’s exciting to watch him bowl, every one just sits up in their seats when he comes to bowl so he has got that attention around him already. He is going to have a wonderful career.” Especially if he keeps bowling quickly.

Andre Nel says he is very pleased to be away from international cricket and loves the opportunity he’s got to play the English county game. Back for two months with Essex, for whom he played in 2005, Nel – by his own admission a little ‘like a schoolboy’ – felt he had more than just his bowling services to offer the club.”I haven’t played domestically for almost two years in South Africa,” he told the ECB’s website. “But it’s very different to international cricket. The nice thing is that it’s not as intense. You can be more relaxed and you can have a bit more enjoyment rather than being positive and focused all the time. You can have a little bit more fun and you don’t have as much pressure on your game. It’s not as stressful as it is in international cricket.”Apart from bowling, Nel said he was keen on passing on tips to some of the youngsters in the side.”When I came over here two years ago the people were really friendly and welcoming. Ronnie Irani likes the way I play, being competitive. There’s a lot of excitement at Essex that there are several youngsters coming through who could take the club quite far.”The nice thing is that there are a lot of all-rounders and they’ve got a lot of skill,” he added. “They are a young bunch and that’s where you get your enjoyment. That is why I want to come back here as much as possible if they want me. I’m pretty lucky because I’m like a little schoolboy – quite naughty – in the changing rooms, so I fit in quite well. I get along with a lot of the youngsters because I’m quite young at heart. I hope I teach them something in a good way. If not, I’m doing something wrong.”Nel, 29, said that injuries to Essex had been tough on the other bowlers. “It’s been quite hard. The wickets have been flat,” he said. “I’m trying to give the guys energy when I bowl and help some of the younger guys, but on the flat wickets there isn’t a lot of back-up – although Danish [Kaneria] is unbelievable. But I’m certainly enjoying it and trying to take as many wickets as I can.”As for the opposition and Essex’s shot at the Division Two championship, Nel was, unsurprisingly, not lost for words. “When you play against the top sides, I think Essex will be up for it. We should do well because we’ve played good four-day cricket and we are keen to do well in the four-day competition,” he said. “I just go on the field and give it my all every time I play,” he added. “I think the biggest thing is that you can’t worry about it. You have got to do the basics and get them right first.”

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Irfan has said that he is targeting the upcoming limited-overs games against Sri Lanka to make his international comeback.Irfan, 33, has not played for Pakistan since March, when a stress fracture of the pelvis prematurely ended his World Cup. He did, however, make a return to competitive cricket on Saturday during a domestic T20 tournament in Faisalabad, and picked up a wicket with his very first delivery.”I am playing here [in Faisalabad] with the permission of the cricket board and selectors,” Irfan told . “They wanted to see how I respond after recovering from the injury and I am hopeful I would be considered for the one-dayers and T20 game in Sri Lanka next month. I enjoy cricket and bowling and it is a challenge bowling in T20 cricket, but I have learnt how to cope with the mindset of the batsmen now.”Irfan said that while he gained a lot from the World Cup, where he took eight wickets from five matches, missing Pakistan’s quarter-final loss against Australia was a huge disappointment.”I am fine now and completely fit as the rehabilitation process has been very good, but the regret is still there,” he said. “I couldn’t play in the World Cup quarter-final against Australia and that was such a big match. I was so pumped up in that tournament and was bowling with fire but I guess one can’t fight such things.”

Former England batsman Mal Loye has been appointed head coach of the BCB’s High Performance (HP) for two years. The first programme for 22 players will begin in June and will run till the end of September of this year.Loye, who played seven ODIs for England in 2007, ended his first-class career in 2011. Having previously coached at the Wellingborough School in Northamptonshire, Loye is likely to arrive in Bangladesh in the next few days. He will work under the National Cricket Academy’s new director of coaching Paul Terry, who was appointed earlier this month by the BCB.The HP chief Mahbubul Anam, also a BCB vice-president, made the announcement during the programme’s launch in Mirpur on Monday. He also announced the 22-member High Performance squad, which includes four international players Sabbir Rahman, Mohammad Mithun, Jubair Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman.The HP was in function between 2003 and 2007 but faded away in the subsequent years due to change of leadership in the BCB. The programme has been touted to be a bridge between the national team and emerging cricketers. The main aim is to ensure the best prepared players in international cricket, which Stuart Karpinnen, the HP’s general manager, said was a realistic goal.Mahbubul said that the board will set aside US$1 million as operational budget for the HP programme and also informed that there will be a number of consultants from home and abroad who will work at the HP in the near future. He added that the HP will coordinate constantly with the national team’s coaching staff.”The HP committee will include the cricket operations committee chairman and game development committee chairman. The programme will go hand in hand with the national team because it will be important for players falling back in the national team and for players who are looking to graduate into the national team,” Mahbubul said.He assured that the uncertain nature of Bangladesh’s domestic cricket will not affect the HP’s main function. “This is unfortunate that we have an unfixed domestic structure. We definitely need to fix it, and that is one of the top priorities of the board, to have a definitive schedule of tournaments so that we can plan everything better.”The HP programme runs in the off-season. It starts from June and ends in September. During these four months, the HP runs uninterrupted,” he said.They have also planned to keep the specialisation programmes flexible in tune with the domestic competitions, he said. “The elite programme for the fast bowlers, which has to run beyond the programme for eight months, is flexible and will be slotted in when there is no domestic cricket.”Knowing that the domestic calendar shifts, the coaches have to discuss with Paul to do short programmes. Eight weeks won’t be at a stretch, so that we utilise those periods when there is no cricket in the cricket season. We have decided to remain flexible taking into account of unscheduled tournaments,” he said.Karpinnen said they hoped that a majority of national players would have worked with the HP programme in 6-12 months while within two years, the programme is likely to prepare at least two cricketers vying for positions in the national team.Apart from the programme for the 22 players in the main HP programme, there will be six other specialist programmes, called elite programmes, for incumbent national players of the three formats and elite programmes for fast bowling, batting, spin bowling, fielding and wicketkeeping. These camps will run throughout the year for a few weeks at a time.Sarwar Imran (fast bowling), Zafrul Ehsan (batting), Wahidul Gani (spin bowling) and Golam Mortuza (wicketkeeping) have been appointed as coaches to work under Terry and Loye. The coaching staff will include Brett Harrop as rehabilitation manager, physiotherapist, strength and condition coordinator and performance analyst.Terry said that the new head coach Loye will be working directly with the players while Terry himself will coordinate with Loye and the rest of the local coaching staff.”I will be working closely with him and all the other coaches to set up the programme,” Terry said. “Mal’s responsibility will be to run that programme. My role will be to assist him and in the planning. I think the local coaches will be the most important here. We need to work closely with them.”High Performance squad: Rony Talukdar, Litton Das, Shadman Islam, Tasamul Haque, Mahmudul Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Mossadek Hossain, Mohammad Mithun, Taibur Rahman, Jubair Hossain, Saqlain Sajib, Nihaduzzaman, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Jayed Chowdhury, Subashis Roy, Mehedi Hasan, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Dewan Sabbir, Nurul Hasan, Jabid Hossain, Irfan Sukkur.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:34

Chappell: Root has a good cricketing brain

England completed the second-highest successful chase in T20 internationals and the highest in World T20 history to keep their campaign alive. They held their nerve chasing 230, thanks to a blistering start from Jason Roy and a clinical innings from Joe Root that ripped South Africa’s attack apart and undid their batsmen’s efforts.Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla and JP Duminy all scored half-centuries in a line-up that included AB de Villiers at No. 3 and South Africa would have thought they had enough. Instead, they were left to rue the three overs between 10 and 13, bowled by Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, when South Africa could not find the boundary and scored just 14 runs. Before that, they were 125 for 2; after it, 139 for 3 and it was the difference between a score under 250 and one greater than. In the end, South Africa needed the latter.On a night when no one wanted to be a bowler, the England seamers’ scattergun approach was nullified by South Africa’s overcompensation in bowling too straight, as well as some ill discipline. While England only gave away two wides, South Africa donated 20. An England line-up whose approach is built on aggression punished them for that.Given the magnitude of their task, England showed intent from the first ball. Jason Roy swung hard at Kagiso Rabada and took 21 runs of the opening over – the most Rabada has conceded in an over in this format.Alex Hales treated Dale Steyn with equal disdain. He sent the first three balls for four, all flicks on the leg side, although he should have been dismissed off the first. Kyle Abbott was at short fine leg and could not hold on. Roy had even less respect for Steyn. He finished the over with 10 runs off two balls to take England to 44 after two overs, the most runs off 12 balls in a T20. It was also Steyn’s most expensive T20I overEngland were running away with it but Abbott made up for his earlier blunder when he had Hales rapped on the pads in front of middle and leg to strike the first blow.Ben Stokes was promoted to No. 3, Roy kept going and South Africa had to turn to death bowling strategies in the Powerplay. Abbott searched for the yorker and found it but when he missed Roy ramped him for six over de Kock’s head. Roy tried to do it again but skied it and de Kock took the catch, ending his contribution at 43 from 16 balls.When Stokes hit a Rabada full toss to the deep square leg boundary, it was advantage South Africa. Although England had more runs than South Africa had after six overs – 89 to 83 – they had already lost three wickets.Imran Tahir was introduced in the seventh over and immediately quietened things down. His opening over cost seven runs without a boundary and, having seen England’s spinners have a similar impact, Faf du Plessis gambled with bringing on Duminy. It paid off as Duminy worked in tandem with Tahir and snaffled Eoin Morgan, who chopped on, to keep the advantage with South Africa at the halfway point. After 10 overs South Africa were 125 for 2; England 118 for 4.But the brakes were slammed on South Africa’s innings then when Rashid and Moeen kept du Plessis and Duminy quiet. In the same period, South Africa used Chris Morris, Duminy and Steyn and the effect was entirely the opposite. England scored 42 runs in those three overs, Morris bowled short balls to his detriment, Root and Jos Buttler finally decided to take on Duminy and Steyn could not scare England into a mistake. The advantage swung. After 13 overs, England were 160 for 4 and the required rate had been dragged down from over 11 to 10.South Africa still had Tahir and he went on to become the only bowler not to concede a boundary on the night, and to remove Buttler, but he lacked support. Morris was South Africa’s weak link and gave Root the full toss that saw him bring up fifty off 30 balls. His was the slowest half-century of the night, after de Kock’s came up off 21 balls, Amla’s off 25 and Duminy’s 26, but it was the one that mattered most.Root took England to within 11 runs of victory before he swatted Rabada to deep midwicket and left it for Moeen to finish off. England lost two more wickets before they got there, but they won’t dwell on those late nerves.They will, however, want to address their own bowling lapses and a messy fielding performance that saw them on the received end of a total in excess of 220 for the fourth time. Reece Topley offered too much width even as Morgan refused to put a fielder at point to allow de Kock to hit him through there three times. De Kock was even more severe on Willey and forced Morgan to introduce a spinner in the Powerplay.Amla had only faced three balls by the time Moeen came on but already had his eye in. Amla found two boundaries before he should have been caught at mid-off but Topley, perhaps still recovering from his own mauling, spilled the chance. Jordan and Stokes could not find control and England conceded 81 runs in the five overs after Willey’s first had gone for two.Rashid was introduced as soon as the fielding restrictions were lifted but did not immediately appear a threat. De Kock used his first ball to bisect the men in the deep and bring up his first T20I fifty but did not add many more to his total. He picked out the fielder at deep midwicket to allow South Africa to unleash de Villiers on the perfect platform.The innings seemed to be playing to script when de Villiers smacked successive sixes but his show was short lived. Instead it was Amla and then Duminy who kept South Africa going. They scored 90 runs off the last seven overs but on a small field, a good pitch and against a bloody-minded England, it was not enough.

Media reports confirming a four-nation Twenty20 tournament in Toronto, involving hosts Canada, Bangladesh, Pakistan and West Indies in August, are premature, according to sources inside Canada.”There were some teething problems initially but now everything is going according to plan,” Noman Nabi, chairman of Sports International Marketing – the company staging the August 14-17 tournament – told the earlier this week. Nabi added packed stadiums were expected for the event, with approximately 12,000 spectators expected for each game.The tournament faced major hiccups last month when the original organisers backed out. “We only came in the picture last month and signed an MoU with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in mid-June,” Nabi said. He said they had signed an MoU with the Bangladesh Cricket Board while all terms and conditions have been verbally agreed with the top officials of Cricket Canada.”They [Cricket Canada] have assured us that they would soon confirm the participation of the West Indies in the tournament,” he said. Noman said there was a delay in confirming the four-day event as Cricket Canada were a “bit apprehensive” about the venture after the earlier organisers backed out.”The PCB has been very supportive,” he said. “The tournament is aimed at building Pakistan’s image in Canada because a successful Twenty20 tournament will help revive cricket in that country.”Canada has a big Pakistani community and since the event will begin on August 14 we believe it would be a perfect time to celebrate [Pakistan’s] Independence Day there.”

Sri Lanka’s selectors have drafted in six fresh players for the five-matchone-day series against South Africa that follows the second Castle Lager/MTNTest at Centurion starting Friday.As expected, veteran batsman Aravinda de Silva, who retired from Test cricketin October, joins the 16-man squad along with one-day specialists UpulChandana and Pulasthi Gunaratne, both of whom were in the ICC ChampionsTrophy squad.Off-spinning all-rounder Thilan Samaraweera is called up as a replacementfor Muttiah Muralitharan, who will undergo a hernia operation shortly afterfinal Test and will be out of action for between four and six weeks.Avishka Gunawardene, a powerful left-handed opening batsman discarded afterSri Lanka’s tour of England, earns a recall as a straight replacement forSanath Jayasuriya, who injured ligaments in his right ankle on Tuesday andis doubtful for the early games.In the pace bowling department, the final place goes to 22-year-old PrabathNissanka, who won the last of his four caps in December 2001 and getsanother chance after his impressive form in this year’s domesticcompetition.Kumar Sangakkara is the only specialist wicket-keeper in the squad. JehanMubarak will deputise if he is injured.Chairman of the selectors, Guy de Alwis, currently in South Africa with theteam, said: "We have a picked a balanced side. This series will be a goodtest for the youngsters. We are looking particularly closely at the fastbowlers as we look forward to the Australian series and the World Cup."Fast bowlers Sujeewa de Silva, Tharanga Lakshitha, Thilan Thushara Mirandoand Ruchira Perera all return home, along with left-handed middle orderbatsman Hashan Tillakaratne and wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene.The players are due to arrive in South Africa on Monday.Sri Lanka have one practice game in Potchefstroom before ODIs inJohannesburg, Pretoria, Benoni, Kimberly and Bloemfontein.Full squad:Sanath Jayasuriya (Capt), Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Russel Arnold,Mahela Jayawardene, Aravinda de Silva, Jehan Mubarak, Avishka Gunawardene,Hasantha Fernando, Upul Chandana, Thilan Samaraweera, Pulasthi Gunaratne,Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando, Chamila Gamage Lakshitha, Prabath Nissanka

Andrew Strauss has hinted that England’s players will consider boycotting games against Zimbabwe should the 2009 series against them go ahead.Speaking at the MCC Spirit of Cricket evening at Lord’s, where the guests included Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, Strauss told an audience of 1400 that if Robert Mugabe stays in power then there was a real chance that some of the team would not be prepared to play against Zimbabwe.”In the past there’ve been opportunities for the government to show the strength of feeling among the general population here and the government chose not to,” he said. “If it comes down to players to do that, we’ll definitely have to look at it.”There’s a feeling on previous tours that the players have been left in the lurch by both the government and the ECB. There’s a great sense among the general population that our last tour to Zimbabwe shouldn’t have gone ahead. It’s come down to a certain extent to personal preference and there have been some tough decisions made in previous tours.”When we come round to the issue again we all hope that the political situation in Zimbabwe is very different. But if it isn’t there are going to be more very difficult decisions to be made.”Strauss was speaking as a member of a panel, along with Barry Richards and Mike Brearley, in a question-and-answer session which followed Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Spirit of Cricket lecture at Lord’s.Richards said that the ICC had missed an opportunity in not taking action against Zimbabwe before now. “I think the ICC are erring and it frustrates the hell out of me that Zimbabwe have not been brought to book. It’s a moral issue and what he [Robert Mugabe] is doing everybody knows is simply not right … cricket can play a part in that and it’s not.”Click here to listen to the Q&A session as well as Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Spirit of Cricket lecture

K Thimmappiah, the former Karnataka (then Mysore) batsman and Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) president, died in Bangalore on Sunday. Thimmappiah was 92. He played 11 first-class matches, scoring 418 runs in a career that spanned 11 years.A right-hand batsman, Thimmappiah became Mysore’s first centurion when he made 127 against Tamil Nadu at the Central College grounds on January 2, 1942. He had made his debut against the same team in December 1940.Thimmappiah was later involved in the game as an administrator, taking over as KSCA president from M Chinnaswamy in 1990. He served in the position for eight years. He was also manager of the Indian junior team during their tour to Sri Lanka in 1963-64.He is survived by his wife and four children.